My Favorite Lesson From Miko Branch at the #BESummit

Last week at the 2016 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit, there were a host of phenomenal workshops and panel discussions with goo-gobs of pricelessly useful information and resources shared by the speakers. One of those panelists and speakers was Ms. Miko Branch of Miss Jessie’s, LLC. You can visit their site and learn more about their natural hair care line and other products at http://missjessies.com/; or visit your nearest Target to buy their fantabulous products!

During her interview with Black Enterprise’s Caroline Clarke, she shared the story behind her and her big sister (the late Titi Branch’s) start of their company. In sharing that story and profoundly answering a stream of insightful questions, she really provided budding entrepreneurs with great perspective and a true example of how to conduct business in a way that is based in sound principles and that really works for the individual’s desired outcome and overall desired lifestyle. Her points exemplified the creative autonomy with which an entrepreneur is empowered when that path of entrepreneurship is chosen. So, needless to say, what she shared was great!

What I soooo didn’t expect was the phenomenal tip she, perhaps unknowingly, gave to parents about #RaisingBlackMillionaires. Ms. Branch mentioned (a few times actually) how she has never liked being told what to do; therefore, being the boss was rather inevitable for her. When I heard her say that, I reflected upon myself and said, “me too!” While it didn’t dawn on me until my mid-twenties that I wasn’t made to work for someone else and that it was always a part of my core to be an entrepreneur, I eventually got it, accepted it, and progressed thereafter. But the question that comes to mind is, “what if someone over my stewardship had identified this in me earlier in my life and groomed me with that in mind?”

Many of you are like me and have a teenager at home. And while she is not under my roof, I also have a twenty-one year old who is very much a Leo. The hidden meaning behind that fun-fact is that she would rather be in command and in control of every aspect of her life than not.

Now we all have gone through teenage-hood and young adulthood, those periods when our frontal lobes are still very much developing and our reasoning faculties just be off! Nevermind the grammar in that sentence. The point is that both periods in life can be quite stand-offish for the parents. But suppose we take the time to enable our children with the tools, skills, and resources to put all of that I-hate-being-told-what-to-do energy into developing their own business? After all, doing so will provide them the opportunity to experience many of the lesson-rich failures of entrepreneurship while still under your protection, versus once they have a mortgage and mouths to feed…you know…like many of us did. More importantly, it will help them to discover their own innate talents and their natural abilities to turn their mental conceptions into material realities that they can monetize. Imagine if a large fraction of our community did this with our children. Less than a score from now, our children could eradicate unemployment in the Black community; because they will have created jobs for their own people. Can you see that?!

So the next time your teenager sighs about something you told him/her to do, instead of contemplating that back-hand motion, help them identify something they’d rather do and a way to make a business out of it. He/she may become their own version of Miko Branch.

For more tips on #RaisingBlackMillionaires, be sure to get your free e-book The 5 Can’t-Miss Steps For Parents In Raising Black Millionaires on the home page. Be sure to leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts about today’s article. We look forward to hearing from you!

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